New York, Jul 18 (IANS): US stocks closed mixed in volatile trading on Friday as investors digested earnings reports and weighed coronavirus impact.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 62.76 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 26,671.95. The S&P 500 rose 9.16 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 3,224.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 29.36 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 10,503.19, Xinhua reported.

Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors finished higher, with utilities up 2.28 per cent, leading the advancers. Energy shed 1.52 per cent, the worst-performing group.

US-listed Chinese companies traded mostly higher, with six of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P US Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.

On the earnings side, Netflix reported second-quarter earnings that fell short of analyst expectations, sending the stock down 6.52 per cent.

The earnings season kicked off this week with bank giants having delivered mixed results by far.

The estimated earnings decline for the S&P 500 is 43.8 per cent for the second quarter, according to data from FactSet as of early July.

Investors also eyed a continued spike in coronavirus infections in the United States.

More than 3.6 million confirmed Covid-19 cases have been reported in the United States, with nearly 139,000 deaths, as of Friday afternoon, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.